Broadband (cable) Internet = TV Licence

[Metier9]

TV licence guy who came round warned me about it :S... they are debating whether to make you need a TV licence if you use a cable modem. e.g. Virgin Media, if you get Internet and not the TV package they still want to charge you for a TV Licence.... :S. Mostly because its a simple process to decrypt the signal to get TV .

Its not likely to come into effect anytime soon.. but not seen it anywhere so i thought i would mention it.

[Sinizter]

Time for another petition ?

[blueball]

Time to find out if the TV licence guy knew what he was on about first.

[dave87]

Yea, blueball has a point.

I must admit though, during my times in Uni halls I haven't actually ever seen a TV licensing blokey around...

[atrull]

you need a device to display those signals - i.e. a tv card for your computer - putting a blank license fee on all cable internet routers and adsl routers would (if my thinking is correct) never get through the lords.

[atrull]

btw if you buy a tv card and put down your details they will check if you have paid a license fee for the property listed with your credit card (or delivery address) - the tv licensing service have it all sown up

[Metier9]

Its not on ADSL, as adsl comes from the local telco. But with cable, the tv gets sent down just the same as the internet, you just need to plug in .

Sometimes they go to uni halls... but some people always buy licences in uni so i think if they get X amount they dont check.. plus the whole 48 hours or 24 hours before they are allowed into your room helps.

Was in my student house they checked... last year they checked 4 times.

edit: Would only know if its true or not when they start sending an extra bill lol and at that point im changing to adsl

[chrestomanci]

Mostly because its a simple process to decrypt the signal to get TV .

If it was a simple process to decrypt the signal to get TV, the the cable TV companies would have a massive problem with piracy. Everyone would subscribe to a basic package, and then use their PC to watch sports, movies and pay per view content for free.

Seeing as that does not happen, the TV licensing bloke is clearly talking rubbish.

They might have a stronger case if they claimed that watching You-Tube videos counted as watching TV, but even that would be iffy considering the quality and lenght of videos available free on the internet.

[GrahamGarside]

The fact is TV license will extend to internet access at some point it's only a matter of when.

And much as argueing about not viewing bbc content over the airwaves matters very little if you own capable equipment, so to will arguing about not using bbc internet content so long as you have the capacity to.

[Metier9]

Actually, in truth it is the BBC that causes the TV licencing, but with a nice loop hole...

You pay tax to the government, like you used to have to pay radio tax which was changed to the TV. This tax (tv licence) is given in whole to the BBC, but the goverment gets the interest on the money (not sure of the interest part, but it figures)

chrestomanci, you miss the point you dont describe to anything . But as im not exactly in the game of getting free TV.. BT covers my needs. I cant say how its done . But also its not exactly something you can buy off the shelf... well ive got an hour lunch tomorrow so might aswell see what i can dig up .

[Merlin4458]

got a letter today saying they are monitoring me lol. So ive unplugged the arial